The last and historic enlargement of the European Union by ten new countries has fundamentally changed the nature of the decades-long process of integration in Europe. , However, it is not only the enlargement but also the global challenges and the unprecedented reform pressure accumulated both in some key member countries and on the level of Community policies that urge to reconsider the mission, priorities and basic instruments of European integration for the coming years and decades.
The paper deals with the process of enlargement, focusing on the negotiations and their consequences. It gathers arguments in favour of joining the European Union on the side of the new members. Moreover, it addresses traditional and new community policies that have to cope with the new challenges, starting from the decision-making process and the reforming of the common agricultural policy, through budgetary considerations to desirable new activities of the enlarged Union in economic, social and political areas. The author strongly argues for a quick and fundamental process of deepening the integration, as a major requirement of strengthening or just creating the global position of Europe in the next decades.
The analysis of the short-term impacts of enlargement, mainly on the economic development of the new members indicates that most of the fears did not appear, while expectations have mostly still to be fulfilled in the next years. This, however, needs a clear integration strategy in the accession countries and a not less clear pro-integration strategy on the level of the EU. This should include a changing mentality from status-quo towards future-oriented thinking and a shift from narrow-minded national positions towards the awareness and implementation of European priorities.
Although, and at first glance, the new members reveal similar features and are confronted with similar challenges in order to become successful members of the European integration, a more detailed survey indicates substantial differences not only in their economic structure and political interests but also in their level of preparation and, even more importantly, in their capacity to absorb the positive and negative shocks connected with membership. Based on these considerations, it is hardly conceivable that the Central and Eastern European countries would form a cohesive and strong lobby within the enlarged Union. Excepting the efforts to redistribute and perhaps restructure the EU budget, their interests are likely to lead to the formation of different strategic and tactical alliances within the enlarged Community.
This paper is organized in the following order: first it reviews the most important stages of relations between the CEECs and the European integration (Chapter I), followed by the key arguments for membership (Chapter II). Chapter III deals with the most significant features of enlargement. Shorter and longer-term impacts of enlargement and tasks of successful membership are analyzed in Chapter IV. Chapter V tries to identify areas in which the CEECs may develop a common position within the enlarged EU. Chapter VI sums up the arguments and presents some concluding remarks.

Executive Summary

I. The Way to Membership

II. Why Membership?

III. Specific Features of the “Eastern” Enlargement

IV. Economic Impacts of Accession and Tasks of Successful Membership

V. Is There a Common Position of the CEECs in Key Integration Questions?

VI. Concluding Remarks

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